Tuesday, October 29, 2013

900 Pounds Per Acre

That's what I spread on our 40 by 60 foot garden, 900 lbs of 12-12-12 and 900 lbs of pellet lime.  That's the rate per acre of course when you figure a 50 lb bag spread in that area.   My soil test showed our garden is a bit on the low side in calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium.  It needs a good dose of rotted cow manure for the other 13 nutrients if I could talk mom out of a load or two.

I must admit Lerch's barn supply carries Carey Ag Lime.  Just like John Haggard says, it's a little high in magnesium for my needs but it was available, it was cheap, and I needed a lot of calcium and not too much magnesium.  It is 20% calcium and 12% magnesium, which makes it dolomitic.  We get the best response from calcitic limestone here on the glacial moraine.

"Carey Ohio.
Dolomite rock.
Magnesium stone"

The radish greened up quickly of course.  I also spread a bushel of old rye seed from the rodent infested wagon in our barn I need to get rid of.  Maybe I should just pull it over to the garden with the DX-24E and dump a pile in the low spot and let it rot all winter.  It will be a slow rot since winter is colder in temperature.  I can spread some nitrogen on it and cause it to heat up and decompose quicker before we till it all in.  I am not into full notill gardening yet but we get closer all the time.

I sure miss the barn cats but you can't keep a wide eyed German Shepherd who even barks at birds and a barn full of barn cats at the same time.  The mice are taking over again so we need to stay vigilant!

We depend on this garden for a bulk of our day to day food.  We know what is in its soil and we have a good idea what is in the food that comes from it.  It tastes so good and we feel better when we eat it!

Did I do right?  What did you put on your garden spot or are you going to have one next year?



Ed Winkle

5 comments:

  1. I assume you've read of the Ruth Stout method.

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  2. Yes, Gorges, many years ago. It works but that isn't the kind of garden we enjoy most. Have you tried it?

    Ed

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  3. Ed, will pell lime change the soil pH or does it just add calcium to the soil. I have some low pH fields and pell lime is much easier to spread for me.

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  4. The experts will tell you it's a poor way to do either, John. I've used it many times since if first came to the market years ago. It is very easy to apply but it is very expensive. My quote is $150 a ton right now compared to around $50 an acre to haul and apply 2.5 ton of high calcium lime per acre this year. I had to ride the applicator to get it done but I applied it to every acre, even the wheat I had growing and it really worked well. I had one of my best crops ever but it did rain too, which made it work quicker. We are about seven inches over normal rainfall here this year which makes for a very good year. Pellet lime is usually dolomitic so know what you are applying.

    If you send me a soil test, I will give you my advice on what I would do. Pellet lime will help but it is a slow and expensive cure if you need 2 tons per acre or two applications of it.

    Ed Winkle
    edwinkle at cinci.rr.com

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